The broadcast media’s ignorance and unwillingness to cover the
National Defense Authorization Act, a radical piece of legislation which
outrageously redefines the US homeland as a “battlefield” and makes US
citizens subject to military apprehension and detainment for life
without access to a trial or attorney, is unacceptable.
Guys, this is far more important than Penn State’s Disgusting Creep of the Decade, or even Conrad Murray’s sentencing.
Call it what you will: a military junta, a secret invalidation of
Americans’ civil rights, a Congress gone mad. Whatever it is, it needs
to be covered by the press, and quickly.
Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow, Bill O’Reilly, Sean
Hannity, Neil Cavuto and the other handful of household names that
mainstream America relies on for news should be talking about this
non-stop.
I emailed producers and on-air talent at the three major cable news
networks yesterday: not one of them was willing to step up to the plate
and report on this appalling legislation, which would give Americans
roughly the same protections as citizens in China or Saudi Arabia.
Bloggers and the ACLU’s analysis have already made the work easy for you guys. Even an ADD segment producer can do the math:
- Pay special attention to Section 1031 of the bill.
- This bill violates the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385), as it
will allow federal military personnel to engage in domestic law
enforcement. This is profoundly unconstitutional and scary.
- Also read Sen. Lindsey Graham’s chilling defense of the offending
provision in this bill, calling to make the homeland a “battlefield.”
Has anyone told these guys that Osama bin Laden and his deputies are
dead? Those still alive are running from drone strikes on a daily basis.
So who exactly are we fighting against? Are you protecting us from a
handful of (almost entirely peaceful) college kids at the Occupy
protests? If so, martial law and throwing out 200+ years of basic civil
rights seems rather excessive.
- Finally, as the ACLU points out, you won’t have any trouble booking an
expert talking head who will tell you how dangerous and
counterproductive the National Defense Authorization Act is: “The
Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the
Director of the FBI and the head of the Justice Department’s National
Security Division have all said that the indefinite detention provisions
in the NDAA are harmful and counterproductive.” Book one of them on
your program, and do it quickly. The Senate has already rejected an
amendment which would have banned the indefinite detention provisions
from the bill.
